Stairway to Heaven, Highway to Hell – escalators seem to encapsulate a lot of symbolism. From the glitzy promises of glamour offered by department stores, and the shiny futurism of airports and convention centres, to the grunge of graffiti covered subway entries and broken down technology, the images I found on DeviantArt this time, cover it all.
Again, it is mostly photographers who have engaged with this commonplace feature of modern architecture. There were a few photo manipulations and paintings in the mix, but they just weren’t interesting enough to make the cut for this blog post.
Some specific sets of escalators popped up in several versions: the escalator of the Umeda Sky building in Osaka, Japan, has caught the fancy of more than one photographer, and of course, there is always the London Tube: a descent into the underworld, 21st century style.
All images are copyright the respective artists, and may not be reproduced without permission.
